Hidden Evil
by TrekPrincess
Summary: This is the story dealing with the creation of Lore & how he ultimately turns evil. Takes place before Data lore and leads up to the destruction of Omicron Theta.
1. Default Chapter

The first thing he saw was a bright light that shone down in his eyes, then slowly there was a face in front of him. He sat up on the table, (where am I? who am I?) He looked into the crystal blue eyes of a human male staring intently at him...(yes, this man was a human, but how do I know that?).  
  
"Lore, my boy" Came the voice "You must have so many questions for me".  
  
"Lore?" He repeated tilting his head to the side.  
  
"That is your name" the voice said simply.  
  
"Who are you?" Lore asked still feeling confused.  
  
"My name is Noonien" Came the reply "And you might call me your...father"  
  
"Father?" He asked looking around the room "Where am I?, what is this place?"  
  
"You're in Dr. Noonien Soong's laboratory" The voice said proudly "This is where you were created"  
  
"Created?" Lore asked, finally looking down at his body and noticing the difference between himself and Noonien "I am not like you father" He stated.  
  
"No, I wouldn't suppose you would be Lore" The voice said as the man came closer and began looking him up and down. "You are different"  
  
"Then what am I?" Lore said as Dr. Soong touched his shoulders.  
  
Soong paused for a moment and replied "You are an android Lore...a mechanical wonder, my life's work".  
  
"Then I am not biological like you?" Lore asked hesitantly.  
  
"No but in a way you are like me Lore...I modeled you after my own image" Soong responded handing Lore a mirror to look into. "You're quite handsome my boy, just like yours truly"  
  
Lore took the mirror and stared at his reflection then back at Dr.Soong "We do share a common resemblance..father..yet I appear different as well...I do not share the same pigmentation on my epidermis and my visual organs are not blue"  
  
"But you are alive my boy that is all that matters now" Soong responded emphatically "I have finally created a positronic brain capable of becoming sentient"  
  
"Alive?" Lore asked.  
  
"Access your data banks Lore"  
  
Lore went quiet for a moment then responded "Alive..animate, breathing, cognizant, conscious, existing, functioning, knowing, living, running, subsisting, viable, working..."  
  
"Yes, yes all of those things" Soong cut him off "Now stand up my boy and let me have a good look at you"  
  
Lore put his feet on the floor, stood and looked back at him "Is this adequate for you to inspect my appearance?"  
  
"It's perfect Lore. How are your legs? do they function well, can you walk?"  
  
Lore took a few steps but found that they were wobbly ones "I do not seem to have the ability to sustain the desired equilibrium to effectively balance on my appendages father"  
  
"Don't worry Lore, your neural pathways are still processing the commands into your positronic relays...soon you will be able to control the neural impulses and co-ordinate them effectively" Lore looked back at him and walked a few more steps, it took a few times and several small trips around the room but soon he no longer swaggered as much in his attempts.  
  
"Excellent my boy" Came the happy reply.  
  
"To have me reposition myself around the room in this manner pleases you father?"  
  
"Very much Lore, now hold out your arms and move your fingers" Soong said smiling.  
  
Lore did as he was asked although the movements of his fingers were quite stiff while doing that he also made an attempt to emulate Soong's smile.  
  
Soong looked back at Lore who now had a lopsided grin on his face.  
  
"We will work on that later son" He laughed patting him on the chest "There is so much to teach you about the human condition"  
  
"But you said I was not Human father" Lore said blankly "Why instruct me to be something which I am not?"  
  
"I have created you to evolve in a similar manner Lore, physically you will never change , but you are designed to grow both intellectually and emotionally over time"  
  
"For what purpose was I created then father?"  
  
"Well I am glad you choose the easy questions to start off with Lore" Soong said laughing again. "Do not fret son I will explain it all to you, we will have lots of time to go over every last detail"  
  
"Fret?" Lore said then again accessed his data banks "Ahh..to worry, to have trepidation..to.."  
  
"I think you got it son" Soong said cutting him off once again "But first things first...would you like to meet your mother now?" 


	2. Meeting Mother

"My mother?...I have a mother?" Lore asked staring back intently.  
  
"Oh yes, indeed you do...her name is Juliana, she's my wife and.....she helped create you son" Lore tried again with his smile and this time almost got it right.  
  
"Very good Lore, you're sure a chip' off the old block" Soong said giving him a hearty slap on the back.  
  
"To what "Block" are you referring that I am a "Chip" off of?" Lore asked looking around and seeing no such block.  
  
"Never mind Lore that's just a human expression, you will learn to integrate them into your programming in time" Soong turned around and motioned for Lore to follow him out of the lab "I have designed you with the ability to feel our emotions, I have also written a subroutine that will enable you to better understand and use human terminology as well"  
  
"Emotions?" Lore asked trailing behind him. "What are Emotions?"  
  
"Access the files emotions 1&2 in your subpositronic matrix...adjunct B" Soong said as he walked briskly down the hall.  
  
Lore stopped right in his tracks and went silent. "Accessing them now"  
  
"Lore you don't need to stop walking while you do that" Soong said as he turned around to face him "You are capable of processing a multitude of complex equations in the blink of an eye"  
  
"Is it required that I must "Blink my eye" to accomplish this feat?" Lore responded curiously blinking one of his eyes, giving Noonien a rather perplexed look he commented "Performing that action does not appear to have any noticable effect on the rate in which I process the information through my positronic relays father"  
  
"We are really going to have to work on teaching you the basics" Soong laughed "That is merely another analogy, it means simply that you can access that information with extreme speed"  
  
"Now c'mon boy your mother has dinner waiting" Soong said continuing to walk "And I am late again, she always says I spend far too much of my time in the lab rather than with her, you should never make the woman that cooks your dinner mad at you son."  
  
Lore was going to respond when his father just laughed and said "I will explain that later my boy, I really am quite late, another minute and she'll have my head on a platter."  
  
Lore looked shocked "She has the ability to remove your head?"  
  
Noonien chuckled "Just a figure of speech Lore, but sometimes I wonder if that could come true"  
  
Finally they reached a doorway and the door swished open, Lore looked around when they were inside and saw small but tastefully decorated living quarters.  
  
"Juliana" Soong called out merrily "We have a guest for dinner!"  
  
A pretty young woman with fiery red hair came rushing into the room, "About time you came home..."when she saw the two of them standing there side by side she stopped dead in her tracks and exclaimed "Noonien, what's going on? I thought you weren't quite ready to activate Lore yet?'  
  
"I was always a fast worker" Soong said winking at his wife.  
  
"Greetings mother" Lore said staring blankly back at her.  
  
"Oh my, look at you" She said circling around him and smiling, then her smile faded as she turned back to her husband "You corrected the problems this time right Noonien, he won't....you know...not like the others?"  
  
"The others?" Lore asked.  
  
Soong sighed then answered "We...had some tragedies before you were constructed Lore, 3 of my previous attempts, well they did not survive long...one suffered a neural cascade failure after only a few days, the second after just a few weeks and the third well I deactivated him before that could happen as well, I had hoped to continue my work on him but then I made a breakthrough and just decided to start from the ground up and create a whole new android...You Lore"  
  
"I had brothers?" Lore asked trying to grasp this new information.  
  
"They were like my children Lore" Juliana said taking his arm "I loved them all very much...and I just can't bear the thought of losing another"  
  
"But you did not "Lose" them mother, they just ceased to function" Lore stated, curious about the terminology.  
  
"Oh Lore" She said sadly "I lost them because they are no longer in my life"  
  
"Curious" Lore remarked "You mourn for them still"  
  
"Yes I do very much" Juliana said softly "But let us not talk of such unpleasantries, come, sit at the table with us it's time for dinner" 


	3. The human custom known as dinner

Lore let her lead him to the table where he sat down stiffly in one of the chairs "Am I required to ingest organic substances for survival?"  
  
"No there is no need for you to eat Lore" Soong said as his wife poured him a glass of tuleberry wine "But you may ingest substances from time to time in order for you to better blend in with humans though"  
  
"Then I will attempt to emulate this human custom known as dinner" Lore said picking up a silver utensil, in his first attempt the fork dropped from his hand in a matter of seconds.  
  
"He is still trying to ascertain his motor functions dear" Soong said to his wife, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Why he just took his first steps only an hour ago"  
  
"Watch me Lore" Juliana said raising her fork and putting it slowly into her mouth.  
  
Lore studied her fluid movements and raised his own fork only managing to stab himself in the chin with it though.  
  
"Perhaps I should practice this ritual more intensely" Lore replied trying again, on the eighth try he finally got it right.  
  
"Why I think you have it down" She said her eyes twinkling brightly.  
  
Lore gave her a grin to show her that he understood.  
  
"Why Noonien he has your smile down to a T" She laughed.  
  
"A "T"? ahhh another colorful analogy" Lore replied and to show her that he was adapting their language well added. "Yes mother I believe that I have it....down pat".  
  
She all but clapped her hands and said "My you learn fast son"  
  
"I think it's largely due to my programming and my creato...my parents"  
  
"Noonien did he just use a contraction?" Juliana looked up surprised "None of the others could"  
  
Soong smiled and patted her on the hand "It is all part of the emotions program that I wrote for him, I wanted him to have the ability to grasp our language syntax better, I was hoping that he would be able to integrate it properly and it would seem he has, I'm proud of you boy"  
  
"Father I am experiencing a rather unusual surge within my positronic net, it is most curious" Lore said.  
  
"You're emotions have begun calibrating within your matrix Lore...I believe that you have just experienced your first real emotion"  
  
Lore sat back and analyzed this new data "Then I believe what I felt was...was happiness at your comment that you were proud of me father"  
  
"He's wonderful" Juliana said "He's so lifelike"  
  
"I am alive mother" Lore said simply "Was that not your intention to make me so real?"  
  
"Oh of course it was Lore, I'm sorry, do not misunderstand my meaning son" Juliana said walking around the table and taking his hands "You are the first of your kind with these abilities, it is just all so amazing, perhaps I am just a bit overwhelmed, after all you were not supposed to be activated for another few weeks"  
  
"Does my early activation upset you then?" Lore asked blinking his eyes.  
  
"No, Not in the least... your father and I have lived for this day, for this moment all our lives" She tried to hold back having feelings for Lore just in case he too would suffer a systems meltdown but his child-like innocence was already finding a place in her heart.  
  
"Then I will endeavor not to disappoint you" Lore said evenly "What do you wish me to do now?"  
  
"The hour is late Lore" Soong spoke up "I will return with you to the lab where you can continue accessing your data files, there is so much for you to learn, but then I must retire and get some rest, it took me 26 hours straight to get your neural net ready for activation"  
  
"Then I do not require sleep or the necessity of reaching an REM cycle?"  
  
"No Lore you do not have that human frailty" Soong said as they rose from the table. He turned to Juliana and kissed her cheek "I will return shortly dear"  
  
"I have heard that phrase a thousand times Noonien Soong" Juliana smiled "And not once has it ever came true"  
  
"Good-night son" She said as she went close to him and gave him a small hug, he stood there rigid for a moment the awkwardly flung his arms stiffly around her.  
  
"Goodnight Mother...sleep well" Lore said nodding at her as they left. 


	4. First Night Alone

Noonien left the dining room and allowed himself a little smile at what he had created. He was amazed at how easily Lore had interacted with his mother. The emotional program appeared to be working well, he just hoped that it would stay that way.  
  
"Lore follow me, back to the lab. You can learn more about yourself from your data files and I'll try to provide you with the answers to some of the questions you must have, but I'll need to sleep soon, it's been a really long couple of days."  
  
Lore walked behind him and soon they were back in the small underground laboratory. "What should I study first?" He asked "What planet are we on?"  
  
"Well my son, that's a good place to start. We are on the planet Omicron Theta" Lore tilted his head "Accessing" He said "Omicron Theta - a class M planet in a remote star system currently inhabited by 410 science colonists, it is mainly a scientific and farming Federation colony."  
  
Lore looked back at his father and stated "You are Dr. Noonien Soong, one of Earth's leading robotics scientists" Noonien was impressed at the speed at which Lore was accessing his database, he had not expected him to be so quick so soon.  
  
"That's correct Lore, although people are not aware at the success I am having here. You see when I first tried to construct a positronic brain, it was quite a public failure. So I came out here under an assumed name, so that I could work in seclusion, with no judgments, some, but not all of the colonists here are aware of my real name"  
  
Lore gave him curious glance "They did not believe in your work father?" Lore was trying to process this new emotion, the best way he could describe it, would perhaps be that is was simple irritation. "Why? It is obvious that you have achieved success".  
  
"I have had success now with you, but most of the earlier work I did on the positronic brain back on earth was unsuccessful. I was ridiculed for having such high expectations of my own work. No one believed that anything could come of it, that a stable positronic brain was possible. Well, I have proven them wrong now, you are the proof that it DOES work."  
  
Lore found his irritation growing at the thought of his father being ridiculed for trying to create him "Father, I believe I am experiencing another emotion, I do not like the fact that you were treated so unfairly...but we will show them all now won't we?"  
  
"It's okay Lore you are probably experiencing anger, but it is okay to feel that way sometimes. You just have to learn not to let it consume you." Noonien stopped for a moment, his eyes were starting to feel heavy. "I have found that the best way to show someone up, is to prove them wrong and now I have."  
  
Lore noticed that his father's eyes were taking on a different appearance "You require sleep, I will spend my time here studying, by morning I will have a better understanding of my surroundings and my functions"  
  
"Ok then my son, I will go off to bed now. I look forward to hearing what you have learned in the morning. Good night son"  
  
"Goodnight father"  
  
Noonien left Lore, his son alone for the first time, He wondered if his son would be ok, It was his first night alone and he was only just incorporating the emotional program into his positronic matrix. (Well, what will be will be) Noonien thought as he headed down the corridor towards his sleeping quarters.  
  
As he arrived, his beautiful wife Juliana was just getting into bed. He sometimes wondered what such a delicate flower was doing with him - what could he give her? Then he realized it was most likely because she had always wanted to have children of her own, but that was a physical impossibility. Even with today's modern technology, it was something that just could not be, so, he surmised, she stayed with him for the 'children' that he could give her.  
  
"Well my dear wife, our son is alone for the evening. I have left him searching through his data banks so that he can learn all about things for himself, including the human condition."  
  
Juliana looked over at her husband "Do you think he will be alright on his own?, you have left nothing out that you would not want him to see?" Juliana did not dare dream that they would finally have a child after so many heartbreaks. It was hard not to develop any feelings for this new android, but she had learned her lesson from getting too attached too soon. "Do you think that Lore might actually survive and stay with us? Not like the others who showed such promise and then 'died' so soon"  
  
Noonien looked over at his wife, "Don't you worry dear. I think that this time it will be very different. Lore's positronic matrix seems to be very stable at the moment, much more stable than any of the others were, his neural net is far more advanced than B-4's was darling" Noonien was worried but he didn't want to let on to his wife. "Don't you worry my dear, I'm sure everything will be fine in the morning."  
  
"It's a shame you had to de-activate B-4, he was just so sweet and innocent" Juliana said sadly, laying her head up against her husband's chest "I hope that one day you can continue your work on him and bring him back on-line again"  
  
Noonien kissed the top of her head and sighed, he knew that the pain of having to say good-bye to B-4 was still in her heart. "I know you miss B-4 Jules, I do as well, tell you what, I'll try and finish my work on him as soon as I get the chance, I promise, I would love for him to meet his brother Lore one day"  
  
"Now that's a nice thought, brothers" She smiled as she rested her head back on the pillow and nestled into her husbands arms, it wasn't too long before they both fell fast asleep. As his father left, Lore found himself feeling rather curious. He started his first night alone by examining all the different experiments that were running, studying every little piece of equipment left laying out and then finally settling down to access his data files. The vast information raced through his neural net, file after file became integrated within his positronic matrix. The knowledge Dr. Soong had programmed him with was immense, so to begin with he only accessed the major files, the ones on his functions and abilities.  
  
(My positronic brain has the storage capacity of 800 quadrillion bits. My linear computational speed is calculated at 60 trillion operations per second. My body contains; 11.8 kg of molybdenum-cobalt alloys, 24.6 kg of tripolymer composites and 1.3 kg of bioplast sheeting, my skull is composed of cortenide and duranium connected to a polyalloy spinal support.)  
  
(If father wanted me to be more human than machine, why then, did he create me with such inhuman abilities...curious)  
  
Lore decided that was a question he would have to ask his father come morning. Still he was trying to perfect the use of his hands to perform tasks, but his fingers still did not seem to co-operate with his desire to move them. Over and over long into the night he practiced, he was so determined to master the skill.  
  
Finally, he decided to give up and take another stroll around his fathers lab, way back in the corner he noticed a panel with a flickering green light, as he pushed the button a drawer slid out. He stepped back as he peered inside at its contents, laying there was the still form of an android that looked just like him. Lore touched the androids face but it never moved, feeling curious once again, he got in closer and studied the androids features, one's that were exactly the same as his own.... golden skin, perfectly formed hair, if he lifted the eyelids he surmised that the same yellow eyes would stare back at him.  
  
(Curious another question for father...who is this?, perhaps the earlier model that he said he had to de-activate...or perhaps this was an entirely new android.)  
  
After examining the android for a time Lore finally closed the drawer back up and made his way back to the computer station. Still not proficient enough with his hand eye co-ordination he quit trying to punch in things manually and opted to just keep accessing his internal data banks. 


	5. Questions and Answers

After a long night of studying and analysis Lore jumped to his feet, as he saw his father enter the room dressed in a light blue outfit and white lab coat "Good morning father, was your sleep satisfactory?"  
  
Noonien was shocked to be greeted so quickly, "Good morning Lore, I slept quite well, thank you. I'm impressed that you have picked up on human pleasantries so quickly." Noonien smiled at his creation, he had a feeling that this one was going to do just fine, much better than his earlier attempts.  
  
Lore grinned back at him, straightened out the dark green jumpsuit he was wearing and stated proudly " I studied all night long, now I have gained an even better understanding of who I am"  
  
"Well it seems like your studying has gone very well, you seem to be integrating information into your positronic matrix very nicely." Noonien looked over at his son who had just sat back down at the computer console.  
  
"I do have questions for you though, who is that other one like me you keep in that drawer back there?" Lore asked pointing to the back of the lab.   
  
Noonien wondered just how to discuss this subject with Lore. This could prove most tricky, especially as he was only just integrating his new emotions.

"Well Lore, I guess you would say that he is your brother in a way. He is an earlier version of yourself, but we had problems with his positronic matrix. After a short time it looked like he might suffer a type of neural cascade failure, which is very difficult to repair and at that time I was not properly equip to handle such an enormous task, so we left him for the time being to work on you, I de-activated him before a cascade failure might have occurred that would have shut him down permanently, this way, in the future, I can go back and try to correct what went wrong."  
  
Noonien hoped that Lore would not take offense at this comment, after all, he _was_ admitting to putting his '_brother'_ in a drawer, Noonien opted not to disclose B-4's name to Lore, he thought that if Lore mentioned his name to Juliana, she might get upset and he hated to see sadness cloud her beautiful eyes.  
  
Lore cocked his head to the side and said "Am I to understand that perhaps one day I could have a brother, one like me, someone to which I can relate to, who can understand just what it means to be what we are or more correctly speaking what it feels like to be an artificial life form?"  
  
"That is correct Lore, I do hope that someday I will be able to repair your older brother or maybe even create another, just like you. Someone who you would be able to have a true connection with."  
  
"Father, please, tell me then, why exactly was I created?...You have yet to answer that question for me" Lore asked, this was the one question that had been on his mind all night.  
  
"Your mother and I both shared a dream of creating a stable positronic matrix. And in a way also creating a child for us to both love." Noonien smiled fondly at Lore.  
  
"Then I give my gratitude to you both, for giving me my life and for letting me be your_ son_." Lore said, returning the smile.   
  
"You're very welcome son , I only hope that, as your parents we can guide you well."  
  
"Also I have been researching humans, if your endeavor was to make me appear and act like a human, why then, did you program me with such advanced and _inhuman_ abilities?"  
  
"Well, we thought that you may face difficulties from being so different, so we've given you every advantage that we could." Noonien knew that this, in itself might be difficult for him to fully comprehend and he was right.

Lore looked back at him not quite understanding what he meant "_Difficulties_?" He asked bewildered "Explain, what kind of difficulties?...will other humans not accept me for who I am?"  
  
Noonien paused for a moment, "Well Lore, some people may not accept who and what you are very easily. Some may even be frightened of you for being so '_different'_. They may not understand, that what they consider to be a machine can have the same thoughts and feelings that they do."  
  
"Why? why would they treat me any different than you father? I do not even know them and they do not know me, would they not accept me as your son, despite the fact that I am not biologically connected with you?"  
  
"Unfortunately my son, humans are a race that can still be very judgmental. They tend to let their emotions overrule their common sense at times. Nonetheless, we will do our best to show them that they have nothing to fear from you, that you are our son regardless."  
  
"We will be together forever won't we father?' Lore asked suddenly. "You won't ever leave me right?"  
  
Noonien had been waiting for this question, Lore was like a child not realizing that parents are not around for ever. "No Lore, as much as I wish that could be true, I will eventually die. Check in your database under death, it is something that happens to all biological living beings eventually. But you do not have that problem, there is not much that will stop you from existing forever, but in a way I will live on in you."  
  
Lore, feeling overcome with his new emotions, impulsively hugged his father "This is a most curious feeling, I am,_ happy_ that you care so much for me and yet at that same time, I feel very _sad_ because my life can go on indefinitely, whereas yours can not"  
  
Noonien returned the hug, he was very impressed with Lore's capacity for emotions, it was coming on in leaps and bounds. "Try not to feel too sad for me Lore, it is inevitable that I will die one day."  
  
"But I don't want you to die father, I don't want you to leave me" Lore said looking down at the floor sadly "I will be alone then...who will be there for me when your time has expired?"  
  
"I'm not certain of that Lore, maybe I will have created more of your kind by then. But even if I haven't, you will survive with or without me."  
  
**"NO!! that is not fair!!"** Lore suddenly cried out his voice filled with emotion and anger, he slammed his fist down hard on the computer panel and yelled "**I hate this**, You can't die father, you just can't!!"  
  
Lore looked down at the smashed control panel amazed by his own strength, he hadn't meant to hit it that hard, it didn't feel like it took much effort.  
  
Then he grew silent, and realizing what he had just done said in a quiet voice "Forgive me, my actions were inappropriate, therefore I will try and repair the panel for you"  
  
That surge of anger even as brief as it was alarmed him so much, that he told his father just how he felt, he had no idea if his feelings could be classified as either good or bad, only that he felt an emotion that was stronger than anything he had ever experienced before....and as the impulses raced through his neural net, it had felt almost liberating but beyond that....._ it had felt good._


	6. What Cannot Be Given

"I felt angry" Lore said ashamed "And I lost control"  
  
Juliana heard a loud bang from the lab and decided to go and see what was happening. As she entered the room, she saw Lore standing over a smashed up control panel. "Lore, Noonien, what happened here?"  
  
"I'm sorry for startling you mother" Lore said quickly picking up the parts of the smashed panel that had fallen on the floor." I should not have let my emotions get the better of me, It...it just happened so fast and I didn't think I hit it that hard"  
  
"There is no need to worry my dear, Lore and I have just been speaking about death and how it is something that will happen to the both of us and not to him. I think it is a difficult emotion for his newly formed positronic network to cope with. Anyway it's nothing to worry about, Lore just needs time to assimilate this new information. I am just going to go out to the Op center now to see if the items I have asked for have been delivered, I will see you both later."  
  
Noonien kissed his wife goodbye and smiled over at Lore, "I hope that the control panel will be mended when I get back." He said half seriously.  
  
He looked over at his father and said "It will be repaired before you return, I promise" Lore was curious about where his father was going, he wanted to ask to go with him but he knew that he had a job to do now, so he kept quiet.  
  
"Goodbye Noonien, and don't worry about us, we will be fine." Juliana moved over to Lore as Noonien left the room. "Lore, my son, this must all be so confusing to you, do you wish to talk about it?"  
  
He put all the pieces back up on the table and looked back at her ashamed "It's just...well...this concept of my parents dying is a most unsettling one, can you please tell me about death mother?"  
  
Juliana took a deep breath, this was going to be just like having to explain death to a child, never an easy subject. What was the best way to explain this?  
  
"Well Lore, it's both a simple and difficult thing to explain. You see all human beings die, they simply cease to exist. Some cultures believe that when the physical body dies the _'spirit'_ passes on to some other world, others believe that when a person dies, there is nothing more."  
  
Lore thought a while as his neural net tried to process this new information "I think I understand mother, the human body gets tired, old and then just ceases to function"  
  
Juliana seemed relieved, maybe he would understand easily she thought. But she had jumped the gun he was not quite finished on the subject.  
  
Lore accessed his data banks _"Spirit;_ A soul, life force, psyche...Mother do I have a such a thing?"  
  
"Well Lore, this may be a difficult concept for you to understand. Although you are like a human in every other sense, there was one aspect of humanity that we could not give you - and that is a soul. This is very difficult to explain to you but a soul is something that a person is born with, it is not something which can be given. But don't you worry, _not having a soul_ does not mean that you are not alive." Juliana hoped this would explain things for him.  
  
Lore was still somewhat confused over that whole matter but he did understand what being alive meant and so he looked back at her and smiled "Thank you mother, I will not worry..." He took her hands in his and said softly "You have given me more than I could have ever asked for, you have given me my life"  
  
Juliana felt moved by the simple gesture, "Why, thank you very much Lore, I'm glad you feel that way"  
  
"After I repair this panel for father could you show me around some more, I am curious I have just seen the dining room...is there more? Will I be living here in the lab? What's outside? Where did father go?"  
  
"Of course I will show you around, there is much more to the house than just the dining room. Noonien has gone out into the colony we live in, you will be able to go out and visit the people there when you are ready, but that is not yet .And we've designed a room just for you, I hope that you like it."  
  
Lore was extremely curious about everything and had the habit of asking question after question.  
  
Lore worked on the repairs quickly as he was anxious to go exploring. It took awhile as his hands were still not co-coordinating well, finding spare parts in the back of the lab he brought them to the table and replaced the broken ones. Looking up from the newly repaired panel he grinned at his mother "All done, did I do an adequate job?"  
  
Juliana looked at Lore with almost a mother's pride, he was progressing so well. "Yes of course, you have done a wonderful job, just don't go doing it again!" 


	7. Exploring

Lore followed his mother out of the lab like a little puppy at her heels, asking repetitive question after question. "Where are we going first?, back to your quarters? Will I see my new room now? Is it near to your room? Where do you and father sleep? What do you do when your are not working?"  
  
"Slow down Lore, there is no need to ask so many questions at once. Just ask them one at a time, us humans cannot assimilate information as quickly as you can. OK, now I'll take you to see your room, your father and I sleep just down the corridor from you."  
  
Juliana smiled to herself at the curiosity of this new life, _her son_. "As for what we do when we are not working, it is difficult to say, it just depends on what we feel like at the time, although it's not very often your father is not working. I like to relax by playing the violin, its a good way to express yourself."  
  
As they came to the doorway Juliana touched the door panel and it swished opened. Ever so curiously Lore poked his head into the room and looked around. He saw a small framed picture hung neatly on the wall in the corner and walked straight towards it, looking at it he asked "This a holo-photograph of you and father, what is it that you two were doing there?"  
  
"Why, that is a picture of us on our wedding day on Mavala IV, we had to elope there as my mother was not enthralled about me being with Noonien. But sometimes you just have to do what feels best."  
  
"Why was your mother not happy with you wanting to marry father?" Lore asked somewhat confused, the perplexity of human behavior did not seem to follow any given set of rules. "Is it required that all humanoids must _marry_?"  
  
Lore, Lore, Lore, Juliana thought. He was just so inquisitive, question after question, some of them very difficult to answer. "Well Lore, my mother thought that Noonien wasn't good enough for me, that he was just too interested in his 'creations' to have any time for me. She thought I should marry a man who could devote his time to me. As for your other question whether all humanoids must marry, that's a bit more difficult. It's not a question that you must marry, thats quite an outmoded concept, but a great many people like to get married to show their commitment to each other .Whereas others feel that they don't need a wedding to prove their love for one another."  
  
Lore felt a tinge of resentment towards his...his.."grandmother" for reacting in this way and for referring to him as nothing more than a _Creation,_ but he tried to keep that emotion from showing, he remembered from earlier conversations that unpleasant conversations upset his mother so he refrained from asking more questions about her, but he was, indeed still very curious.  
  
"Love...A most interesting subject" Lore said looking back at her "If Love is just an emotion, like Hate, then why is one considered bad and the other good...If I hate something or someone does that make me bad too?"  
  
"That's an interesting question Lore. The main reason we see certain emotions aseither good or bad is because 'good' emotions are generally, but not always, associated with feeling happy. Whereas 'bad' emotions are associated with feelings of unhappiness. A good example is that when you love someone it tends to make you feel very happy, but if you hate a person it tends to make you feel sad and angry. But both are quite capable of consuming you."  
  
Juliana hoped that she was making sense to Lore, these were difficult questions, very hard to put the answers into words that would make sense to him.  
  
"But you don't have to worry about it. If you hate something or someone it does not necessarily make you a bad person. It's simply human nature, we don't always like everything and everyone. The world would be a very boring place if all was sweetness and light. You just have to learn to not let the 'bad' feelings overwhelm you. Anyway Lore, what do you think of your room?"  
  
"I like my room mother" He smiled "The decorum is aesthetically pleasing. Can we see the rest of the house now?"  
  
"Of course, we can look around the rest of the house now if you like"  
  
They took hours exploring each room, Lore was insistent on studying every little thing in site, It seemed he thrived on knowledge. They began looking at things together, pictures, objects, books, Lore had so many questions and they talked endlessly about everything he picked up.

Lore learned a great deal about his mother's past that day, how she had met Noonien, their marrige, their work with robotics....even though a lot was said, there were still questions he wanted to ask her, perhaps she would tell him more later.  
  
They were still deep in conversation when Noonien arrived home, they both looked up at him surprised, the time seemed to have just flown by. After a another dinner went by with Lore excitedly telling his father everything he learned from his mother, he bid his parents good-night and spent his first night in his new bedroom.


	8. Days go by

As the hours passed into days and then merged into weeks, Lore fell into the steady routine of studying and learning from both his parents. Although he was close with his mother, it was his father that he felt the stronger tie to.  
  
Lore would find himself pacing the floor in the lab waiting for Noonien to awake from his sleep, on some occasions Lore would spend all night with his father and they would talk until sunup, these were perhaps the happiest times he would ever have. Lore even began to develop his own personality, and never failed to grace his father with his now trademark smirk whenever Noonien made him laugh.  
  
There were the good days when they truly were like a _real family_, but there were also the bad days... Lore was still having trouble containing his new emotions, when he became angry he had a hard time holding back the strong feelings, sometimes he would have intense outbursts and many things in the house were broken during those times.

He always felt bad afterward and tried his best to repair what he had damaged, but still it made Juliana worry and caused Noonien to begin spending more and more of his free time trying to teach Lore how to control his emotions. Some nights he wouldn't even come back to their bedroom to sleep with his wife, opting to stay in the lab instead, always working on new ways to improve his son's neural net.  
  
One long and stormy night, Lore and his father were in his room while outside the thunder was roaring and purple bolts of lightening began flashing across the window, as he heard his mother yell, he looked back at his father who was still busy reprogramming the computer and said "Father, I think mother desires your presence".  
  
Noonien looked up, "Yes, Lore I heard her." He regretted that over the past few weeks he had been ignoring his beloved wife, but there was just so much work for him to do with Lore. Tinkering around with his neural net, trying to make him perfect, to be honest he found it hard to leave Lore for an evening. They just got along splendidly.

"Ok Lore, I'll just go and see what she wants, I shouldn't be long."  
  
Noonien walked across to the kitchen to where his wife was waiting for him, "Hello Juliana, I'm at a crucial point with reprogramming Lore's computer at the moment, now _just what do you need me for?"  
_  
Juliana bit her tongue, she was becoming used to the distance there now seemed to be between herself and Noonien. Over the past few weeks he had become increasingly distant and seemed reluctant to let her spend any time with Lore.  
  
"Noonien, I don't think it's healthy that you spend all your time with Lore, you never go out anymore. People are beginning to talk - they wonder what you are doing up here and why no one has seen your work. Maybe we should think about taking him out into the colony."  
  
Noonien sighed, he had been trying to put this day off, but he knew it had to be done. "Very well, I think that Lore is ready to meet other people, his basic social skills seem to be proficient enough, but interacting with others should make them even better. I'll go and let him know, will you be coming with us?"  
  
"Yes, I'll come with you, its about time we all went out as a family." _Maybe then they could start getting back to the way they used to be she thought.   
_  
When Noonien and Juliana made their way back to Lore's room, they found him sitting there working intently on his computer. "Son, it is time for you to see the rest of the colony and meet some of the other colonists that live here. Would you like that?"  
  
Lore looked up with a flicker of excitement in his deep yellow eyes "Really? you mean I can finally go out into the colony? I can meet the people?, Yes, I do believe I would like that very much. when can we leave?"  
  
Noonien smiled at the look of excitement in Lore's eyes, it filled him with pride. "Well, it's in the middle of the night and there is a bit of storm at the moment, so we can go in the morning if it has cleared up."  
  
Lore could hardly wait as he hopped up and sat on the corner of his desk he gave his parents a big smile "Off to sleep with you two then" He said with a nod of his head, "I'll be ready to go first thing in the morning"  
  
"Ok Lore, we'll go off to bed now and first thing tomorrow we'll go out to the colony."  
  
Noonien and Juliana went off to their room looking forward to the morning, but each with a slight feeling of apprehension. Juliana hoped that it everything would be alright and that the colonists would accept their son.  
  
Juliana was awake early the next morning, she still was a little nervous about taking Lore into town. But she thought that it should be ok. She leaned over and woke her husband. "Noonien, its time to get up, I think I hear Lore moving about, he's probably anxious to go into town."  
  
Noonien got out of bed and dressed. He too was wondering how the colonists would accept his son, _well there was only one way to find out_. "Well Juliana, lets go and get him and make our way to town."  
  
They both went to Lore's room and found him sitting there waiting, all ready to go. "Right Lore, are you ready to go out?"  
  
Lore jumped to his feet and replied "I have been ready for exactly 4 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds"

Noonien chuckled he really was quite anxious to go.  
  
Lore followed them out the door and soon the three of them were off on their way down into the colony. The first purple rays of morning were on the horizon and the grass was still wet from the storm. It was indeed a beautiful day, one that, at first glance held so much promise.


	9. Journey Into Town

When they reached the main street it was already quite busy. Noonien noticed that a lot of the people were staring at them and whispering to one another.

"Juliana, maybe it is too soon, I guess we _should_ have spoken to people first and prepared them for him."  
  
"I think you might be right, but we are out now, so we may as well just get on with it. Lore, don't let this bother you, as we explained to you humans can be very quick to judge. Especially with something new that they don't understand."  
  
Lore looked around and saw the cold stares he was getting as he passed by them, he tried to smile back but they only gave him a strange look in return. Then they came to a mother and her child who were crossing the road, but as soon as the woman laid eyes on him, she picked up her child and rushed away hurriedly.  
  
"The colonists appear to be frightened of me Mother, what have I done wrong?...Have I inadvertently upset them in some respect?"  
  
Lore was confused by this reaction, although his parents had told him this might happen, he had not calculated on really seeing this aspect of human perception.  
  
Juliana had her worst fears realized, she had hoped that perhaps humans had evolved past making such rash judgments. Maybe she and Noonien should have spoken to the colonists before bringing Lore out to meet them.  
  
She looked at her son and realized this was going to be very hard for him. "Lore, it is not anything that you have done wrong, it's just that humans can be quite judgmental, to them you are very different, the fact that you walk and talk and act like a person but that you are not may frighten them".

There was more she wanted to say, but she was interrupted.  
  
"What _is_ that?" a voice yelled out. Noonien jerked his head around and could see that it was Victor Jackson yelling out, a tall red haired man, with a large beard and portly figure.  
  
"If you are referring to _Me_" Lore said focusing on the man who was pointing at him "_I_ am an android"  
  
"A robot?" Victor responded with slight sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"No, that is inaccurate analogy, I believe I articulated my response correctly the first time, I am an android" Lore said approaching him.

The man started to back away when Lore came closer.  
  
"Same thing" Victor huffed "Just a walking, talking computer"  
  
Victor turned to Noonien and said "_What_ have you done Soong, _IT_ looks strange"  
  
Noonien could not believe how everyone was reacting, you would think he'd unleashed a monster on them.  
  
"Look Victor, you have no comprehension of what we are dealing with here. okay, so he may not look just like we do, but some of us might question your looks. You're just a small minded bigot, the same kind of person that has existed for centuries. There is just no point in even talking to you, like the great philosopher Murray once said;_ we mock what we don't understand."_  
  
Juliana stepped in between her husband and Victor, "Come now Noonien, let's not start any trouble."  
  
"I am not an _IT"_ Lore interjected "My _name_ is Lore"  
  
"You named It???" Victor sputtered "Well _whatever_ it is....it's not one of us"  
  
"You are quite correct in that assumption" Lore said again "I am _not one of you_, I have been designed to be superior in regards to your human standards"  
  
"Now_ it_ thinks it's better than us" Victor spat out vehemently.  
  
"Iam Better than you" Lore stated flatly " In quite a few aspects to be concise, and that is not just my opinion Sir, that is simply a fact".  
  
Juliana moved closer to Noonien, " I told you that we should have given Lore a modesty chip, he's just going to anger people with talk like that."  
  
Noonien sighed, "Much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right people just don't like being spoken to like that."  
  
Slowly a crowd began to emerge and they all started asking questions at once.


	10. Confrontation

Noonien looked at the crowd gathering in front of him and was suddenly worried for Lore, even though he knew that no physical harm could come to him. However, he was worried at the effect that all of this would have on Lore's newly formed emotions.

Although he believed that his son would never harm anyone intentionally, he didn't know for certain _just_ what was going on inside his neural net. But before he could do or say anything the crowd began to move forward.  
  
Lore was looking around at the crowd as they all began shouting at his father. The newly formed emotions were still hard for him to control and he was feeling the beginnings of anger towards these people, people that his mother had regarded as her friends. Lore tried to keep his demeanor calm for his parents sake, but he did not like this Victor man, not at all.  
  
"Tell us Soong, what do you intend to do with this '_machine_', what is it's purpose?" The crowd was becoming agitated.  
  
Noonien was thrown, _what was Lore's purpose_, "Well, there is no specific purpose that you would understand, I just wanted to prove that I could create a stable positronic matrix that could feel and experience emotions just the same as we do."  
  
"What is _your_ purpose?" Lore asked the crowd "You were all merely born into your existence, with no real reason, _with no purpose either_, so why do you ask the same question of me?"  
  
This did not seem to pacify the crowd at all. They just kept on with almost endless questions, why had he made Lore, how had he done it, how could it 'feel', what did all of this mean?  
  
Juliana stood at his side, she did not know how to answer these questions, what could she say that would make people feel better?  
  
Lore was finding that his emotions were rising up inside him now, he was feeling like these people regarded him as nothing more than a science experiment, as nothing but a machine...and this did not please him, in fact it angered him enough to say something.  
  
**_"Leave my parents alone!!"_** He yelled finally, this one simple statement made all the colonists stop talking and stare back at the Soongs in utter shock.


	11. Outcast

"PARENTS??" A voice piped up finally "You mean to say that ....that thing..is your son???"  
  
Juliana finally had enough of the backbiting, "My son is not a THING, he is a kind and loving person, you just don't know him."  
  
"Stop it Juliana, there is no point arguing, these people have made their minds up. They just don't see him as we do."  
  
"We don't WANT to get to know it" Victor shouted "You're sick Soong, what kind of demented game are you playing at?"  
  
Noonien tried to stop his anger boiling over, but there was no stopping it. He went over to Victor and grabbed him by the throat, "WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT? I'm not playing a game, it's just that your feeble mind does not comprehend what I am trying to achieve here."  
  
"Feeble mind? You should talk "Often wrong" Victor said pulling his hands off of him "That was what they called you back on earth wasn't it?, one miserable failure after another, but then again your work was ludicrous anyway after all".  
  
Noonien was furious "What do you mean Often Wrong, you have no right to criticize me. You should learn when to shut up..."  
  
Lore stepped in between Victor and his father "I said leave them alone...if you don't like me deal with me then, not my parents."  
  
"Get your robotic PET out of my sight" Victor sneered at Noonien.  
  
Noonien moved Juliana behind him, he did not trust this Victor at all. He could only hope that on further trips out, this would not be everyone's reaction to his son.  
  
"Perhaps father it would be best if we left now" Lore said, his neural net was processing so many emotions he felt like he was going to lose control and he could not allow that to happen.  
  
"Yes, I think that's a good idea Lore, things aren't going too well."Juliana said touching her sons shoulder.  
  
"Leave him alone dad" A small child's voice spoke up "He's not doing anything bad to you, why are you being so mean to him?"  
  
Victor could not believe it, there was his own 10-year old son telling him to leave this..........thing alone. "Varek, you come here now, away from the Soongs, you're too young to understand what that thing is."  
  
"He's a person dad" Varek spoke up again "Maybe not like us, but he has feelings too"  
  
Victor was enraged "Get back to the house Varek...Now!!!" He yelled pointing at his son "And I don't ever want to see you around this thing in the future, is that understood"  
  
Varek mumbled and ran off towards his house.  
  
Lore was surprised at the Varek's words, the small human child did not fear him or dislike him like the others. This was most interesting, he just did not understand this strange turn of events.  
  
Noonien was shocked by the outburst from Victor's son, the only person that had even bothered to say something nice about Lore was a ten year old child. "Come on Lore, Juliana, I think its time we went home now." 


	12. The Pit and the Pendulum

Juliana held her temper all the way home, but the minute they were in the front door she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I _told_ you Noonien, we should have spoken to the colonists rather than just go dumping this on them. But you _thought_ you knew best, well look what's happened. How can we ever go into town again and subject Lore to that kind of treatment."

She took a breath, "I'm sorry to be so angry at you, it's just that what Victor said has really got my back up, how _DARE_ he speak to us like that. What does he know about anything - he doesn't even know how to speak to his own son. But I'm angry with you as well, for _letting_ it happen, why do you never _THINK!!_"

"Don't take your anger out on me _Juliana!,_ I _did_ think and anyway it was _your_ idea to take him into town."

Noonien caught himself before he went too far and continued on in a softer tone of voice "Calm down, don't let idiots like Victor bother you so much."

Noonien moved over to comfort his wife, but she just shrugged him off. "Anyway, I'm the one who deserves to be angry, I'm the one he insulted. How does Victor have the right to call me _OFTEN WRONG,_ what has he ever done to deserve my respect."

Noonien looked over at Lore, who was just standing there, being very quiet. "Lore, son are you alright, I know this must all be very strange for you."

"Mother, father" Lore said finally "You both have explained to me in the past that it's alright to have anger sometimes, and I do believe that this situation entails such a response, although I am unsure of how to adequately express and deal with such a strong emotion"

His voice was calm as he spoke, but inside his neural net the thoughts of anger were intensifying.

"When you grabbed Victor by the throat back there may I ask what you intended to do to him, had I not stepped in?" In his mind Lore would have really enjoyed seeing that man get what was coming to him, but he did not articulate this to his parents, such thoughts would have to remain hidden, such thoughts would upset his parents.

Noonien had to think for a moment, how to explain how to control anger and also to explain what had happened with Victor.

"Well, sometimes Lore, emotion can get the better of us, no matter how _hard_ we try to control it. I don't think I actually intended to do anything to him, it was just a spur of the moment thing. Unfortunately, anger can get the better of a person sometimes, but you learn when and how it is appropriate to express anger. What I did was inappropriate, and it _should not_ have happened."

Lore thought for a moment and cocked his head to the side as was his habit when he was processing new information "What is the _appropriate_ way to express anger then father, if your actions were as you call _inappropriate..._then what should have happened? What was the appropriate course of action to take?"

Lore was finding that the perplexity of human behavior and their subsequent decisions were still hard for his neural net to grasp. He was noticing that humans often say one thing but do another, and then most strangely they tended to also regret their actions after wards.

Looking down, Lore noticed that his fists were tightly clenched so he quickly released them, hoping that his parents hadn't noticed.

"Still, you telling Victor off was most entertaining to watch" He said with a smirk.

Noonien suppressed a smile, "It may have _seemed_ amusing at the time Lore, but it _was_ a bad example for me to set for you. The best way that I could have reacted, was to just ignore him. However, most people find it _very_ difficult to _completely_ suppress their anger, after all we are not Vulcan's."

Lore found this topic to be very intriguing, never before had he seen either of his parents this worked up. He found almost a delight in seeing them express the one emotion that he was finding the most difficult to contend with;_ and that was anger_.

Noonien continued saying "But, the way that most people react is simply with words and not with physical violence."

Now this _really _interested Lore."_Just words_?, Can those _words_ also be just as bad as physical violence then? This is a most confusing concept, how can one actually _hurt_ another with mere words?"

"There is much for you to learn son, we can indeed be hurt just as much, if not _more_ by words. It's a _different _kind of hurt, but no less painful. In fact some people can be permanently damaged by words. It's hard to explain how, it's just how it is. You may have experienced it for yourself when you heard Victor and his vile rants. Did his words _hurt _you?"

Noonien, in the midst of chaos, still wanted to know how Lore's neural net was adapting and processing emotions.

Lore was taken off guard by this question, he immediately analyzed this question and came to a conclusion; _but how was it possible that a mere human's words could have caused him to feel this way._

"Yes father, I did in fact experience another emotion at that time, It was one that I would now categorize as being..._upset._ I have come to the conclusion that Victor's words were indeed intended to initiate just that kind of emotional response from me and I did not like it then and I do not like it now" Lore was holding back from mentioning the way he _really_ felt when he thought about Victor.

"He made a reference that leads me to believe he does not like me, nor either of you for giving me my life, this makes me both hurt and angry at the same time, I do not care for this individual, In my opinion, you are superior to him father, perhaps that's what makes him so angry"

"Well son, that's to be understood, but I'm glad to hear that your neural net is working well and taking on board all this new information." Deep down Noonien wondered if he had done the right thing taking Lore into town and exposing him to those brain-dead idiots.

"Mother, why did you comment that father _never thinks_, Is it not true that all humans think on a constant basis, even when they are in rem sleep?"

Juliana's mind was in a whirl, so much had happened. _What to say_, what would be for the best, how should she act, she was worried that Lore was letting his emotions get the better of him. Perhaps she was mistaken but maybe, just maybe, there _was_ a glint of........_of something_ brewing in his eyes. Just a brief flicker and then it was gone, but thinking that she may be just over exhausted and reading too much into things she decided to just let it go and answer Lore's question the best she could.

"It is just a phrase that people use, it doesn't mean that they do not think. It's just a way of saying that they are not thinking about the consequences of their actions."

"Ahhhh another analogy" Lore responded "It means that you thought his decision was not properly analyzed before he proceeded and acted upon it" Lore smiled back at his mother

"Still though, I am grateful for the way you and father both stood up for me when faced with such opposition, perhaps fathers reaction could be construed as regrettable now and yet still, that was a relevant point he made in saying that Victor could not comprehend the work that created me"

He hugged Juliana and over her shoulder he gave a quick wink to his father.

"Thats right Lore, it's just an analogy. It doesn't actually mean anything, and I'm glad you understand that point. Anyway I'm quite tired now, so I'm going to head off to bed."

Noonien noticed the little wink that Lore gave him, he was very happy at how quickly Lore was picking up on human actions. He was very proud.

"Goodnight mother" Lore said as he watched Juliana leave, as soon as she was out of the room, he turned to his father and smirked "Father, I did enjoy what you said and did to Victor although I refrained from mentioning just how _much_ I liked it in front of mother, I have the distinct impression that she would not have approved"

"That's very interesting Lore, although I do not disapprove like your mother would, I _am _worried about the fact that you _enjoyed _watching violence. That would not be considered normal amongst most people, and I think it _is _something that we need to discuss."

"But...the way that Victor spoke to you, to all of us" Lore countered as he felt that surge of anger once again return and unable to stop the sudden overpowering emotion he flung out his hand and knocked to the floor his mother's favorite glass vase that was on the small table next to him. Watching it shatter into pieces as it hit the tile almost brought a smile to his face, but since his father was watching him closely he repressed that urge.

"Victor _deserved _to be treated that way though, he was a very rude and insulting person and he was _mean_ to you and mother" He steamed, still staring down at the remnants of Juliana's prized antique.

Noonien was quite concerned at this new turn of events. He wondered if it that _was_ an accident or if Lore had simply knocked it over in a fit of anger.

"Lore, I know that Victor deserved to be treated like that, but humans learn to control their reactions. You have to think before you act, however much you don't want to. I have to admit that I would have loved to hurt Victor, but you stopped me and I am grateful for that, because if you hadn't of stopped me... well, I just don't know _what_ I may have done.

Looking up and seeing his father lock eyes with him and then critically glance down at the floor, Lore bent down and readily started picking up the shards of glass from the broken vase.

Sounding both sincere and apologetic at the same time Lore pleaded "Forgive me, I did not purposely mean to break Mother's favorite vase...it was an accident, I'm sorry father,"

Noonien decided to believe that it was just that... _an accident_. He truly didn't think that Lore was yet capable of having such strong emotions. The emotional program surely could not have finished integrating into his positronic matrix_ this soon_, he thought.

"It's okay son, I didn't think you did that on purpose. Just make sure you clean it up, we don't want your mother to see it."

"I understand father" Lore replied quickly disposing of the pieces belonging to his mother's once cherished heirloom.

When he finished, Lore sat back in his chair, remained silent for a few moments and then said quietly;

"I _was_ angry father, and yes part of me enjoyed seeing you yell back at Victor, but I now realize that I was wrong" Lore was rethinking his earlier statements and came to the conclusion that maybe it was best not to mention these strong feelings of anger to his parents anymore, he did not like the fact that his father deemed his feelings not normal compared to those of humans. That fact made him dislike Victor and the others that sided with him even more.

Noonien walked over to the replicator, "One Georgian vase, glass." Noonien looked over at his son, "Ok let's not tell your mother about that."


	13. The Morning After

Noonien awoke the next morning and looked over at his sleeping wife. Juliana looked so beautiful while she slept, he wondered what had been going wrong with them lately. He knew that he had neglected her for Lore recently, but he thought that she would have understood this. After all she loved Lore too, maybe they could use this common ground to heal things between them.

Noonien continued to watch his wife as slept and she started to stir. Juliana began to wake up and was aware of Noonien looking down on her with a soppy look on his face. "Good morning my dear wife, I hope you are feeling okay this morning. I know that yesterday was quite stressful for all of us."

Juliana sighed at her husbands knack of stating the obvious, "Yes, yesterday was stressful, I wish that it had gone differently. It hurts me so much to hear people speak to my _son_ like that. Especially that Victor, I think he has always had it in for you. But I do feel a little better about it this morning, now I've had time to think about it. We should really have expected a reaction like that, we had not prepared anybody for what to expect with Lore."

"Well that may be the case, but what's done is done, we can't turn back the clock now, much as I'd like to. And it hurt me too, he's my son as well."

"What did you talk to him about last night after I'd gone to bed, was he alright?"

Noonien decided it was best not to tell Juliana about Lore's little tantrum with the vase.

"Well, we talked for a little while about Victor and his reactions and how, while you may feel like taking your anger out on people, it's not the way to behave." He hoped he had glossed over the conversation he and Lore had had the previous night, he didn't want Juliana to know that her dear son was displaying quite aggressive tendencies.

Juliana was relieved, "I'm glad you had a man to man talk with him, let him know that how you behaved was not the proper way to act. Well, I'm going to get up now, would you like me to get some breakfast ready?" Noonien breathed a sigh of relief, she seemed to believe him. "Yes breakfast would be lovely, I'll go and fetch Lore."

Noonien walked along to his son's room, as he opened the door he saw that Lore was sitting there in what looked like deep thought, he wondered what he was thinking about. "Good morning Lore, how are you feeling this morning, a little happier I hope?"

Lore glanced up at him but did not answer straight away, he had taken hours reanalyzing every last detail from the previous day. Since he did not sleep, the whole of the night was spent continuously going over yesterday's conversations. Whereas a human could sleep and wake up refreshed and with a new perspective, he could not, and therefore his hostile feelings towards Victor still remained unchanged.

Even though his father asked him how he felt, Lore came to the conclusion that in-depth honestly perhaps would not be the best course of action to take, he did not wish to upset his parents any further. Lore both trusted and loved his father and wanted so badly for those same feelings to be reiterated, he wanted to be a good son, and if it took a lie or an omission for that to be true, then he concluded that is what he would have to do.

Realizing that his father was still staring at him waiting for his answer Lore replied "I have been analyzing the previous events from the day before and although the perplexity of human nature still eludes me to a point, I have come to the realization, that while my anger was not unfounded, it could have been better restrained, but yes father, my feelings of anger did in fact dissipate somewhat and I am now, as you say, _feeling better_"

Lore hoped that his father would accept this answer and they could be done with it, he hated to keep parts of his true feelings a secret, He did trust him, but he also knew that if he told the entire truth there was always that chance that it just might alienate him from his father and that, under no circumstances could be allowed to happen.

"I'm glad that you've realized that son, it's an important lesson for you to have learned. It's good that you realize anger _needs_ to be restrained at times, can you imagine what things would be like if no one ever bothered to control themselves. The entire universe would descend into chaos."

Noonien was relieved in the change in Lore this morning, he had been concerned that last nights anger would still be present. But everything seemed to be fine now, Lore's chip had assimilated the new information on how to deal with anger, he didn't think that there should be many further problems in that department. Obviously there would be the odd glitch as Lore learned how to deal with new situations, but he believed the worst was behind them now.

"Are you and mother _feeling better_?" He asked putting on a smile, then looking down at his clothing he added "Also, I was wondering if perhaps you or mother could suggest a different variety of garment for myself to wear, I tire of these green jumpsuits"

"Thanks for asking Lore, your mother and I are feeling much better this morning. However I decided not to mention the levels that your anger reached last night to your mother, it would only have upset her."

Noonien smiled, Lore seemed to truly becoming an individual. "Well I think your mother would be best to speak to about clothing, I don't really have a clue when it comes to clothes."


	14. The Tie That Binds

Lore felt happy this was something that was just between him and his father and he liked that, it made him feel closer to him in a way. He sat down on the edge of his bed and patted the space next to him gesturing for Noonien to sit down too.  
  
Again Noonien was so pleased at how easily Lore was using human expressions such as that one, the little pat on the bed. But as he went to sit down next to Lore, he could see that there was something weighing on his sons mind. He waited for Lore to say what was on his mind.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" He asked then he grew very silent and continued, almost in a whisper "Do you love me father?"  
  
"What a silly question Lore, of course I love you, you're my son."  
  
"Even despite of my failure to completely control my anger" Lore said and hung his head.  
  
Noonien reached over to Lore and lifted his head, "Don't you feel ashamed for your actions, even the best of us have difficulty controlling our anger at times. It's probably the strongest of all emotions apart from love. It's understandable that you would have difficulty trying to control it the first time you truly feel it. Anyway, you are my son and I will always love you no matter what."  
  
"I...I love you too father" Lore said meeting his eyes "I will try and control my anger more efficiently in the future, I do not wish to put any further distress upon you"  
  
Lore turned and said with a sigh looking down "Do you think mother feels the same way for me as you do? I know that I upset her sometimes"  
  
Noonien felt very touched by Lore's declaration of love for him. "I'm sure that Juliana loves you very much as well Lore. I know that she can get upset with you at times but it doesn't stop her loving you. If you really want to know for certain how she feels, you would be best asking her yourself, as much as I wish I could read her mind, I don't know exactly how she feels."  
  
Lore thought for a moment talking with his father was much simpler it seemed and he still found his mother to be rather complex, when he relayed this thought to his father, Noonien just chuckled, which confused Lore even more so.  
  
Noonien chuckled to himself at Lore's perception of women, little did he know just how complex women were.  
  
"Are all human females this hard to understand and relate too?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head "I have noticed that mother sometimes says one thing and then does another...I find that during these times, my programming does not make the necessary adjustments in time to correctly extrapolate the proper responses"  
  
"Don't worry about it Lore, women have a habit of saying one thing and doing the exact opposite. It seems like no matter how much mankind evolves, women are still a conundrum. I don't think I could create programming fast enough to deal with a womans change of heart."  
  
"Father, may I ask you a personal question then?"  
  
"Of course you can, you can ask me anything you want, I'm here to answer all your questions."  
  
"Why did you marry mother?"  
  
"Well because I loved her and wanted to spend my life with her of course."  
  
Lore looked back at his father, swinging his feet back and forth he finally replied "Does she meet up to all your expectations now? Do you wish she were more than she is?"  
  
Noonien thought carefully before answering, "I will be honest with you son, most of the time she meets my expectations. It's just at times I wish that she understood my work better , but she is who she is and other than wishing she was a little more understanding of my work, I wouldn't change her for anything."  
  
"How do you know when you love someone in that way father?" Lore asked. "Am I programmed for that?"  
  
Noonien was shocked at the question, how to answer it! "Well, although you are programmed in multiple techniques of pleasuring, I didn't think I should to equip you with detailed programs of love in that respect, I did hope that that you would learn that for yourself."  
  
"You are referring to my sexual program that you added" Lore stated simply "You programmed me with the ability to function in that aspect yet you did not instill in me the feelings that are associated with such an act...Does that mean I can participate in such a situation without feeling what you call love?"  
  
"Yes I'm referring to your sexual program, you are able to enjoy sexual encounters without any emotions, unless you want to have them and develop them. Just like a human would do."  
  
"Enjoy them?" Lore smirked "Then I am programmed to experience the feeling of such a thing without having to be bothered with the way the other person feels or even the way I feel...that is most excellent father."  
  
"No Lore, you misunderstood me. I don't mean that you can't have feelings for another person. I just wanted you to be able to develop those kind of feelings for somebody, rather than simply having them programed into you."  
  
"I do not know if I care to develop such feelings for a human, they can never be as perfect as I am or have the ability to make me love them completely" Lore said looking back into his Father's eyes. "I wonder if love and marriage is something that I can ever have with someone, what do you think father?" 


	15. Truths Not Told

Noonien paused before answering, such a difficult question and he needed a moment to think. He looked up into Lore's eyes as he spoke "Life in all it's complexities will bring about situations that can change the course of anyone's lifetime, we are constantly in a state of change, that is how life is son. It doesn't matter that you were not biologically created, for life always grows and always changes and it will for you as well."

Noonien took a breath and continued "Lore, you're mother and I love you very much, this you know. That being said; you are capable of being loved and fate may someday bring a time when you can appreciate and reciprocate the emotions that come with finding love."

A slight frown creased Lore's brow, but just briefly. He was trying to process this new information into his matrix. "I wish to believe that father; however I am skeptical at the same time. I know that you and mother desperately wanted a child, so desperately in fact that I am here because of your love and devotion to her."

Noonien spoke softly "Lore you must never think that you are only here to fill a void in the lives of couple who could not have one biologically. Yes I love Juliana with the depths of my heart and soul and together because of that love she and I worked very hard to bring you into this world. to give you life So Lore, in everyway that will ever matter you are and will always be our son".

Lore looked off in the other direction as he spoke "That is another type of love father I know this, what I want to know is if a woman, a real woman could actually love me the way that you and mother love each other."

Noonien smiled "Of course, there is a immense universe out there son, filled with many different life forms, but love is something that can never be rushed, sometimes you just have to let nature take it's course."

Lore relaxed a bit but his answer was stolid "When I find the right mate, she will be mine always. Just as you and mom will Always be **my** parents _always_".

Noonien looked back at Lore's face trying to figure out what more to say, but even he was confounded as how to respond, Lore's voice was very definite and a very small part of him worried about that.

"You will right?" Lore asked when the silence grew heavy upon him "You will always be my parents and will always love me best?"

"Of course son, but you shouldn't worry about things like that." Noonien was feeling a bit on edge with the way this conversation was going, he had planned on telling Lore about creating another, a brother of sorts, but it didn't seem like this was the proper time to go into that.

"There is something you are not telling me" Lore stated.

Noonien was caught off guard for once "Why do you say that Lore?"

"I just know".

Noonien sighed "I'm just still feeling a bit tired that's all, why don't we go get some lunch prepared and surprise your mother".

"You know that I don't need to eat Father." Lore replied "Come back when you want to answer the rest of my questions."

Noonien shook his head feeling weary, how quickly the tide changes with Lore. "I'll be back then." He said as he walked out the door.

Lore watched his father leave with a grimace on his face, he turned towards his wall and a sudden surge of anger bolted through him. Before he could stop himself he managed to punch his fist through the wall.

Unlike before, the fleeting feeling of remorse did not come to him.


	16. Hidden Truths

Juliana noticed her husbands weary expression as he paced the room "You're going to wear a hole right through the carpet Noonien." She said trying to keep the tone of her voice light and airy.

Noonien didn't respond or even look up, he had so many things flying around in his mind, that stopping for something as trivial as a response never occurred to him.

"Noonien." Juliana said again after five minutes of watching him walk back and forth.

"Huh?, Yeah that sounds good." Noonien replied without glancing her way.

"Wearing a hole in the carpet sounds good to you." She stated. They had played this game many times before, she would say something and her husband would offer up some form of agreement without even hearing a word she had said. She knew that her husband's brain was always going full speed ahead, always working on some new theory or experiment, but sometimes, like now, it bothered her to be ignored.

"So then, I shall book passage to Risa and we'll have that second honeymoon I have always wanted." Juliana said with a slight smile playing across her lips.

"Yes, yes that's fine." Noonien replied, until his subconscious mind caught up with him and he stopped his pacing. "Wait, what did you say?"

Juliana sat down on the couch and gave him a sly little wink. 'Oh, what I said wasn't important." She began "It's always the answers that really count."

Noonien knew that she had him cornered, so he relented and sat down beside her on the sofa. "I'm sorry Jules." He began as he brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. "You are married to a work-a-holic, my dear, sometimes I just can't stop thinking enough to even relax."

Juliana slid her arm around his waist and rested her head upon his chest. "What is it Noonien, what is on your mind?" She asked, she could hear his heart beat speed up just slightly and his posture went stiff for a brief moment. When he didn't respond right away, she looked up into his eyes and added "There was a time when you could tell me anything Noonien, But lately it seems that is not the case. I don't claim to understand everything that you do, but I have always tried."

Noonien looked away, feeling a pang of guilt spark inside, for she was speaking the truth. He never thought that he would ever keep secrets from her. She had literally given up everything to be with him, forsaken her own family because she wanted to be with him always. There were just so many worries that he was holding onto inside, he almost felt the stress sapping the life from him at times.

Lore was everything he had dreamed of creating, a workable stable positronic matrix. But was it really so stable, he wondered so often that he barely slept anymore. How could he even put into words this feeling of doubt that shadowed his greatest achievement. He wasn't sure if it was Juliana who couldn't handle that thought, or if it was his own pride that stood in the way.

"You've gone again." Juliana said softly, putting her hand over his.

Noonien at last looked her in the eyes. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon, and even after all the years she still took his breath away.

"Jules…" He began, it was on the tip of his tongue to tell her everything, lay it all out on the line and hope that maybe she would see Lore differently, maybe all his worries were without merit after all. She would say he was over reacting once again and that he was just too involved, that's the way she always told him that he was working himself into early retirement. Just too involved. How he longed to hear her say that once more, to hear her tell him that things would just work themselves out in time.

But what if he wasn't just imagining Lore's disturbing behavior over the last month? There was this anger lurking within Lore that was starting to rise to the surface. Could he deal with another failure, another disappointment, or worse yet could his beloved wife cope with another failure on his part.

Maybe she would start believing that he really wouldn't ever succeed in his work, that history would pass him over as nothing more than a insulting footnote on the pages of some scientific text book.

_That Soong, he was a crazy one alright, he sure earned that name often wrong, who knows what ever became of him, perhaps he's gone mad in some institution somewhere, locked away like all the shameful rejects that resulted from illegal Eugenics experiments. _Crazy people all sound perfectly sane to themselves, isn't that what they say about those poor souls who have lost their minds? _Soong tried to make a positronic brain, tried to give life to something just as sterile and cold as used parts, but he miscalculated, wouldn't even throw in the towel when he knew he was beaten. _

At this moment, as those terrible thoughts and doubts filled his mind, he did the one thing that he had promised to never do…He lied to her.

Juliana, his trusting and loving wife, took him at his word as she has always done in the past. If he said nothing was wrong, except for some troublesome insomnia, then that was that. She half anticipated that Noonien would come out with some horrible news, her chest even tightened a bit at first. But as his words about his restlessness being nothing more alarming than a little sleep deprivation, she felt that tense feeling ease up and the world as she knew it righted itself once again.


	17. Ticking Away

**Chapter 17**

**Two months later.**

* * *

"Something's wrong with him Noonian, I can see it, heck I can just feel it. Lore is hiding something, something dark and deep inside him and it is just aching to get loose."

Noonien looked up weary eyed at his wife "There's no proof of anything like that Jules, I think that your imagination is working overtime again."

Juliana stood up and paced a few moments before answering "You do not see him as I do, there is something off about him Noonien and it worries me sometimes."

"You're not making any sense Jules." Noonien tried again. "Lore is just growing into himself like all adolescents."

"That's the problem Noonien, Lore is Not an adolescent, he is a full grown adult, with all that comes with it, He goes on rampages, anger spurts, he throws tantrums."

"Like I said that is all part of growing up."

"He's Not a child for gosh sakes!" Juliana almost shouted in spite of herself. "You never set out to make a small child android, you set out to make exactly what you made and now there are problems so deal with them!."

"I don't see the problem Jules, he's just learning to fit in that's all it might take some time that's all."

"It's been months Noonien, Months. And Lore is just getting worse, it's those emotions that you gave him, it makes him…it makes him unstable and whether you want to admit it or not; it is the truth."

Noonien couldn't believe what he was hearing, after all she had wanted Lore just as much as he himself had. "Let's just give him a little more time my love." He said in a softer tone.

Juliana turned to leave the lab, but she turned around at the door and said almost under her breath "He scares me Noonien."

* * *

Lore was listening around the corner, he had gotten very good at spying on his parents in the last couple months. What he had just heard angered him deeply.

Victors words came rushing back like a flood gate. A monster he had called him. Could that be what he was. A monster that even his own mother was afraid of.

Lore looked back at his reflection in the mirror that hung on his bedroom wall, he studied himself for a moment before shattering the glass with his fist.

"I'll prove you wrong mother." He said loudly. "All I ever wanted was to be your son."

He donned his village clothes and decided to take a trip that would make neither his mother or father very pleased with him.


	18. Quandary

**Chapter 18**

The sunlight was just beginning to dawn into ashy looking embers when Lore crept quietly out of the house. He let the shutters close softly as he could as he shut the window carefully behind him.

It had rained earlier in the day and he could still feel the dampness of the leaves as he made his way through the small forest glen that separated his house from the road to the village.

When he arrived at the outskirts of the village he could make out the shapes of children playing in the yards, they didn't seem to notice him at first so he just stood there for many minutes just watching them.

He wondered to himself what made the young humans so carefree and happy because even though he had the appearance of a grown man, he still was in essence a child himself even if only in age alone.

Several of the children were playing with a small animal that resembled an Earth dog, they seemed fascinated with the creature, laughing and stroking it with their small hands.

Lore crept a bit closer so that he could hear the children's voices, they were talking about their "pet" which Lore surmised was the small animal.

A slight smile emerged from Lore's lips at the sight of such peacefulness, something that he was struggling so much with over the last few months.

"Hello." piped a small voice from behind him. Lore turned around and looked down at the child, he remembered this particular child from his first trip into the village.

"Hello Varek" Lore replied stooping down to the boys eye level.

"Neat, you remembered my name." Varek replied with a grin.

"I remember everything." Lore stated simply.

"Everything?" Varek questioned with a curious glance at the pale man.

"That is correct." Lore reiterated "Everything that I learn or experience will always remain clear in my memory banks."

"What is a memory bank?" Asked Varek.

"It is…" Lore thought for a moment how to convey this to the child in a way he would understand "It is my brain."

"Oh, I get it now." Varek said pleased with himself "I have a brain too, we are not so different."

Lore laughed a bit in spite of himself "No I suppose that in ways we are the same."

"How come my dad and the other grown ups don't like you very much, you are nice to me."

Lore stood up before answering "Because in a lot of ways I am different than you and your people, and I believe that makes them fearful of what I am."

Varek looked a bit confused and bit his lip as children do when they get uncomfortable with something. "But I am not afraid of you, some of the other kids are kinda scared because of what our parents say about you."

"What do they say about me?" Lore questioned still very curious.

"I don't wanna say." Varek said in a quiet voice "It's mean."

"It's okay I won't get upset at you." Lore said gently.

"Well, they say that you are a monster that you should not be allowed to be here. They are sure that you will do something terrible to the village."

Even though Lore already knew what the villagers thought of him, to hear it said aloud from the lips of this small child stunned him momentarily.

"Are you mad at me for saying that?" Varek asked when Lore didn't respond.

"No of course not." Lore said with hardly any emotion in his voice. "It is not your fault that they believe what they believe."

"Hey" Varek chimed in changing the subject "It's my birthday tomorrow wanna come?"

"How old are you going to be?" Lore asked with a tilt of his head.

"Eleven." Varek said proudly. "How old are you?"

"I am 6 months, 7 days and 34 minutes." Lore replied.

"No way you are teasing me." Varek giggled "You can't be that young, you look like a grown up."

"Never less that is the truth, I was created to look older than my real age."

Varek continued to giggle clearly not believing him "You're funny." He said with a smile.

"Funny?" Lore said without smiling "I did not think that I was being amusing."

Varek stopped giggling and looked up into Lore's golden eyes. "I… I didn't mean to make you mad." his voice quivered a bit when he spoke.

"Never mind Varek, i'm not mad at you." Lore said pasting the smile back on his face. "I must go now but I will come to your birthday if you still want me to come."

"Of course silly." Varek grinned. "There's a bunch of people coming over too."

"You will require a gift of some sort." Lore stated "I will construct one tonight for you."

"Okay." Varek said taking Lore's pale hand in his own "You are my friend I like that."

"I like that too." Lore said with a smile "I will see you tomorrow then.

"Noon" Varek called over his shoulder as he headed back toward his house.

Lore wasn't expecting any of this; he had come to the village to confront Victor and instead he had made his first real friend.

This was indeed curious.

He wondered about how people would react when he showed up at noon.

He wondered if he should tell his parents.

As he crept back into his house he went immediately into the lab to begin his project.


	19. Trepidation

**Trepidation**

**The Soong Compound**

"Noonien?" Juliana spoke in a soft voice, her hands clenching the sides of her lab coat.

"Yeah?" Her husband answered not looking up from his computer terminal, he was busy and though he loved his wife deeply sometimes her interruptions jarred him. Yet that was the way that it had always been, although he admitted to

himself it seemed to be happening more often since Lore's activation.

Juliana glanced up from her work station at her husband; she knew that tone in his voice and also knew that he was only minutely aware of her voice. But she had to mention something that had been on her mind for the last few weeks. "You

know you could look at me when I talk to you."

Trying to suppress his exasperated sigh he eventually turned his chair around and reluctantly tore his eyes of his computer screen. "You now have my full attention Juliana, what is _so_ important that you have to interrupt me now, I am working

on something right now and need to focus."

"Well, I'm glad you brought that up, that is what I want to talk to you about. Are you sure that you know what you are doing, don't we have enough on our plates at the moment dealing with Lore?"

"What does that mean?" He said growing slightly irritated.

"You know very well what I mean Noonien." She admonished "I swear you are the most brilliant man I have ever know and yet you can be so thick about some things; thick or blinded I am not sure which."

Noonien raised his hand to head wiping off the perspiration. "I assume that you are referring to my new project."

"Project!" Julian exclaimed "No Noonien I believe that this is more than another one of your, as you put them, _Projects. _This is about what I saw on your monitor the other day; I thought you could tell me anything, what has changed so

much over the last few months? It seems that you have had a one-track mind when it comes to Lore, but this is different, isn't it?"

"Not so different my love." He replied itching to get back to his work.

"Don't pull that _My Love _stuff on me Noonien; you know damn well that this is something that we should have discussed before you went ahead full steam."

"I thought you would be happy Juliana." He stressed the last word as he spoke. "I thought that you always wanted a bigger family."

"Don't do that Noonien, Don't you dare make this about me!" Juliana exclaimed. She rubbed her temples slightly feeling a headache beginning to wrap itself around her head.

"How bad does your head hurt Jules?" Noonien asked watching as her fingers made small circles on her temples. He knew that she suffered from tension headaches. She got them more than a several times a year now.

"Don't change the subject." She said a bit more loudly than she had planned, this made her head throb even more. "Besides it's just another one of those headaches, it will pass, they always do."

"Want me to get you something to ease the pain?" Now he felt a twang of guilt in his gut, she was the only person in the universe that could affect him in that way. Strangely enough he admired her for this.

"No, I'll be fine, I want to talk about what you are doing, and I say _doing _because I know that it isn't just a plan anymore." Juliana knew that he was trying to change the subject, next he would try stalling but she was adamant that

he tell her the truth.

"You know maybe we could talk about this later when you are feeling better." He replied hoping that she would agree but knowing that when she had her mind set on something, she would not venture off topic, headache or no headache she

wanted answers. Answers that he really didn't want to get into right now.

"I knew you would do that." She responded flatly.

"Do what?" He asked, already anticipating the answer.

"That you are stalling for time." She said now rubbing the back of her neck. "That's what you always do when there is something that you don't want to talk about and you know what it's getting old."

She was right of course, his defense mechanism was in full deployment mode. She knew his every habit and more often than not it worked solely in her favor. "Okay, then let's talk, what is it dear wife that you want to know?"

"Can we cut the patronizing tone Noonien, this goes far beyond that and you know it, hell it goes far beyond logic itself."

"You sound like a Vulcan." He murmured, and then bit his tongue. "I'm sorry you are right, I promise to hear you out."

"Good" She stated getting up from her work station to come and sit near him. "Now what the heck are you doing? Are you crazy, this might be a huge mistake and maybe deep down you already know that."

"I disagree with you about that, this is not a mistake, this is wondrous." He said growing a bit excited in his speech patterns. "I want to keep going. And it's the only way that I can keep our legacy alive and that is with my work. I will be

remembered forever that way. Jules we_ will_ eventually die, there are few certainties in this universe and death for humans is one of them, but this will assure that even death won't take my legacy with it."

"Is that what this is about? You want to do all this for the selfish purpose of your name going down in the history books? You can't keep playing God Noonien, it isn't right for them. They are more than just a science project, can't you see

that by now. Lore is more than that…a lot more! He is our son Noonien and no one, not even you can convince me otherwise. You know, a while back when he was first activated Lore asked me if he had a soul, I told him that was the one

aspect of humanity that he could never have. But you know what…I think now that I was wrong. Whatever makes him who he is, makes him as unique as you and I, just has to be something more. He is alive. And he's learning and evolving

everyday. You may say that it is just a bunch of programming and electrical impulses in his positronic brain, a series of sparks in his neural net that makes him function. But isn't that the same thing that happens in a human brain? So I ask

you how can all that not be construed as life? Lore having a soul in him which makes him exist, is that so hard to believe?

Noonien was taken aback by the dainty redhead staring at him so intently, those things she had just said to him made sense in a way, but he was a scientist and that was the way that he looked at things. "Juliana, I am not playing God, I am

merely testing the boundaries of what a mere human can accomplish using science and technology, not mysticism and mumbo jumbo. If you think that Lore does have what you refer to as a _Soul_, then that is what you believe and I won't

try and change that, but scientifically speaking that would be impossible on many many levels. He's made up of mechanical parts, he's been engineered and designed to mimic human behavior, but he will never become one, no matter what

you believe."

Juliana fixated her eyes on his, thinking that he was the most stubborn man in the universe, never willing to see the other side of the shiny coin, never even willing to pick one up, in fear that it would reveal only tarnish up close. "I know that

you think what you are doing is right and that you have nothing but good intentions, but as the saying goes, The road to Hell is…

"Paved with good intentions." Noonien finished the quote for her. "That's a bit harsh Jules; I never dreamed that you of all people would condemn me in that manner. Besides you and I have seen with our own two eyes that Lore is the

culmination of _both_ our good intentions." He saw her eyes look away for a split second and in that little simple gesture she spoke more to him than she had during this whole conversation. She had doubts, she doubted him for the first time

in his life and that was a crushing and sobering realization. "You are not having seconds thoughts about the work we do are you?" The question was strained and barley a whisper.

"You could say that I have some trepidation these days." Juliana replied honestly. "I think that Lore is not what we think he is at times."

"Lore is just fine Juliana, he is still adjusting I know and he's made some mistakes but don't we all make mistakes at some time or another." Noonien was now looking at his feet unable to meet her gaze as he spoke, his chest was tight and

heavy, he could feel in his bones what was coming next and he did not want to go there, not at all.

"Lore is Not fine Noonien and if you spent more time with him outside your precious lab than maybe you would see it too. He worries me and at times he downright scares me."

"You are exaggerating." He stated blithely "Lore is just a work in progress that is all; he will learn to control those emotions in time."

"Those emotions are ruling him Noonien, they are becoming him in ways that you are blind to." She hated to say this, for she did truly and deeply love her son, but it needed to be said and she had bottled it up for far too long. If it were a tidal

wave then there were cracks in the levee. "Those emotions are turning him."

"Nonsense!" Noonien spit out "His emotions are making him what he is and what he is destined to become."

"And what is that? She asked steeling herself for his reply.

"I can't say that I really know Jules, but I believe that it is something wonderful. He will go on to do things that you and I could not even dream. He will fulfill more than any of our expectations. But you are right about one thing the future is

indeed unpredictable for everyone."

"That is right; we just don't know what we have unleashed on the universe." She said softly. "We can't be sure what he will eventually become and that scares the hell out of me. I know that is a blunt statement but I am worried about him,

worried like I was never worried about B-4 and the others."

Noonien sank down in his chair; he clearly was not expecting all this. He thought she adored Lore, that he was wonderful. "It doesn't have to be that way, he is growing up with us as his guides into humanity, he will learn from us and you will

see that he is trying so hard to please us, to please you, he loves you Juliana. We talk about it often and he wants to make you proud, proud like a son to a mother, is that so wrong?"

"But all the anger that roils inside of him, he can't keep it in forever, you have to see that. Look at how many walls that you have had to patch up, how many broken things that you had to fix, all the things that could not be fixed. I tell you

Noonien sometimes I think he enjoys all that anger, I see it in his face when he doesn't know that I am looking. When he notices me there he becomes apologetic and remorseful, but I can't help but feeling that is only an act for my benefit.

He's hiding his true nature from us, I don't know why or even what that nature is but he is hiding something and that is what scares me."

"I thought you loved Lore, loved him like he were our own biological son, what has he done besides breaking things. At his age that is considered a rite of passage growing up, hell I broke many things when I was a kid." Noonien was

exasperated he hated this negative conversation, hated everything about it.

"I do love him Noonien, more than you know, that is why I brought all this up. He is my son in _all ways _that truly matter, so don't you dare think otherwise." Juliana felt her headache increasing to a pulsating thumping around her temples and

knew she was becoming increasingly stressed the way this conversation was going. "I have caught him in numerous lies; I thought that androids were incapable of lying?'

"My other…Our other children were Jules, but Lore is different, he is special. I have given him emotions and a drive to do better, to learn and to grow as he goes through this life we created for him; he has the ability to make his own choices,

his own decisions. He is not just a mere automaton; I thought that you of all people would be pleased with that."

"Don't get me wrong Noonien, I am so glad that he has a mind of his own, but with that comes a whole new can of worms. Something you and I never even considered when we made him that way, what if he chooses the wrong things, and

what then? We are not always going to be around to teach him and guide him. Yes we_ will _die someday and Lore will be on his own in this vast universe, what will he be like then when we are gone and there is no one to make him understand

the consequences of his actions.

Noonien pondered that thought briefly before adding "We will teach him now Jules, teach him how to make it without us, you will see he'll make the right decisions in time, we just have to be more diligent with him from now on."

"Really?" Juliana was astonished "You are willing to take a long breather from your work and devote it all to teaching Lore.

"Well... um I will make room." Noonien replied, unsure that he would be able to even do that much.

"Not good enough Noonien, it's make or break and we both have a part to play in this. Do you even realize that Lore acts out and destroys things to get your attention! He yearns for it even if you don't realize it. Make the time, maybe it's

not too late to save him from himself. He's on a backward slide and although I have tried to be there for him as much as I can, I am not a substitute for you, he worships you Noonien. You're his father, the only one he will ever have and he

knows this, but I think it's even more than that, he desperately seeks out your approval…to be blunt he wants nothing more than to make you proud."

"I _am_ proud; just look how far we have become with him. No one said a stable positronic brain could be accomplished and I made that a reality._ He is _my legacy."

"You just don't get it do you, he doesn't want you to be proud because he exists, he wants you to be proud of _Him._

"Well…He's smart and clever, he can do so much on the computer and his help in the lab is invaluable to me."

"That is still not good enough, do you know that he can play the piano so beautifully that it makes me cry, the way he laughs with me and asks a million questions about life, he is so curious about everything. He even sculpted me a wonderful

vase. Lore is very talented and yet very vulnerable at the same time. He is like a child Noonien; he wants nothing more than to please us. And there are times that I see him sitting near the window just gazing up at all the stars and he has a

look of wonder about him."

"Well he does have top of the line programming for creativity installed, I am not surprised. He could very well paint the Mona Lisa blindfolded." Noonien boasted a bit.

"Forget the programming and all the sub-routines for a minute will you! What I am trying my best to articulate is that Lore is more than his programming at times."

"I find it very improbable but you seem to think otherwise, why is that?"

Juliana shifted in her chair and looked him deep in the eyes. "Spend some real time with him outside of this place and really take notice of him. You will see that there are differences that deviate away from that programming; he is an

individual capable of many things that neither you nor I understand. You will be in for a surprise. For he is indeed unique."

"Okay if you insist, I will do as you ask but I don't expect to find whatever it is that you think he inherits which goes against his programming."

"Good, you do that and then we will talk about that later." Juliana smiled at last and took her husbands hand in hers. As stubborn as he was, she loved him completely.

Noonien smiled as well and caressed her soft warm hand in his "It will all turn out okay my love; you'll see Lore will exceed in being everything we have dreamed of and more."

"Oh, and one more thing" Juliana added "I hope you are right, I really truly do for the sake of everyone not just us. But if you sincerely have no doubts about Lore then why are you moving forward with the creation of another?"

Noonien gasped "How did you know?" His face took on a look of hesitation perhaps even shame for hiding it from her.

"We live in the same place Noonien; I am your wife do you really think that you could keep such a secret from me. Does Lore know what you are doing?"

"Heaven's no, but he will when the time is right, I am giving him a brother because I think that will balance things out in the long run. And it will give Lore the companionship that he will need when we are gone."

"Have you picked out a name yet?" Juliana asked.

"No, not yet, the new android is just data in the computer right now." Noonien replied turning back to his computer.

"I think that's just perfect." She replied getting up off her chair ready to leave.

"What's perfect?" Noonien asked perplexed.

"The new androids name." She said over her shoulder "I think you should call him Data. It's fitting don't you think."

Noonien paused and looked over at Juliana as she walked farther away "Hmm interesting but very fitting indeed. I like it." He said with a grin on his face

_"Data."_


End file.
